USE AND STRUCTURE OF THE SWORD. 2G3 



inches in length, 2 inches in width at the base, and li- 

 inch at the point. Doubtless this sword is useful to 

 the owner. The fish cannot be always fighting, and 

 probably its proper use is that, as the fish lives upon 

 minute sea-creatures, he turns up the sand, &c., with 

 his sword to hunt for them. By breaking off a small 

 portion of one of the swords I discovered two minute 

 holes in the substance of the bone, and by blowing down 

 the smoke of a cigar, I found that the holes ran com- 

 pletely through fi'om one end of the sword to the other. 

 Besides these two holes, there is also a cavity in the 

 centre. I believe that when the fish is alive this cavity 

 contains nerves. At the lower end I discovered remains 

 of the cellular bone, known to anatomists as the 

 fethmoid bone, and upon which large nerves ramify 

 themselves. These, I believe, are the nerves of sensa- 

 tion which assist the operations of the fish when he 

 uses the sword to rout up the mud and sand for his 

 food. The teeth of the sword-fish are very minute, and 

 not suited for grinding or prehension. 



Mr. H. Dearsley, of Salutation-court, Billingsgate, was 

 kind enough to inform me that in July, 1879, he had 

 received a sword-fish from Brighton, and that he had 

 sold it to Mr. Mills, the well-known fish merchant, 

 whose place of business is immediately opposite the 

 Great Eastern Eailway Station, Liverpool- street. The 

 following were its dimensions : from the front of the 

 eye to the end of the beak, 2 feet 11 inches ; from front 

 of the eye to end of tail, 5 feet 8 inches ; and total 

 length, 8 feet 7 inches. The intestines had unfortunately 

 been removed, which I regret, as I was anxious to see 

 what this creature had been feeding on. 



Another species of sword-fish (Histiophorus'''- gladius) is 



* The Spear-Bearer. 



